Detection of Water-borne Pathogenic Bacteria: Where Molecular Methods Rule
Pages : 351-358Download PDF
Environmental reservoirs are the potential sources of pathogenic E. coli. These are ideal habitat for survival, growth, and proliferation of E. coli as they are rich in nutrients. A wide range of different animals harbor pathogenic E. coli, which are consistently associated with human and animal diarrheal infection. Infected cattle typically excrete pathogenic E. coli. These discharges are released into the aquatic environment or storm water runoff. The surface water carries a number of pathogenic bacteria when used for the drinking purposes. Apart from these, the water is treated in municipal treatment plants and supplied through pipelines for drinking purposes. The processed clean water sometimes also gets contaminated due to leakage of nearby sewer lines. Highly prevalent diarrheagenic E. coli variants are present in the surface and potable waters in India. The consumption of unsafe water in developing countries causes a number of disease outbreaks. The detection of target pathogens needs improvements to overcome existing drawbacks and should be based on simple, sensitive and specific methodologies. Polymerase Chain Reaction is one of the latest techniques in modern biology which is effective in the detection of these pathogens. Real Time PCR technique has advantages over conventional methods in terms of rapidity, high specificity and sensitivity. The real time PCR uses primer pair and molecular probe (TaqMan, Molecular Beacon, Scorpion etc.) for the sensitive detection of pathogens.
Keywords: E. coli, Water, Detection, PCR, Real Time PCR